Exclusive: In bid for Nadler’s seat, Jack Schlossberg makes Jewish security his first priority
The influencer-turned-candidate explained his viral Nazi-salute moment and said Elon Musk’s antisemitism is driving a national threat
Congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg on May 4. 2025. Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP
By Jacob Kornbluh November 18, 2025
Jack Schlossberg, the online influencer turned political candidate running to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler, is making Jewish security a central pillar of his campaign in one of the nation’s largest Jewish districts. In an interview on Tuesday, Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, said that if elected next year, he would immediately introduce legislation to nearly double federal funding for security upgrades at synagogues and other Jewish institutions.
He dubbed it the “Jack-fast-track” plan — a strategy that would involve introducing the bill while simultaneously collecting the 218 signatures needed for a discharge petition, allowing him to force a floor vote and bypass any potential delays in committee. “I don’t think we have any time to waste here because of how important this is,” said Schlossberg, who identifies as Jewish. “So no matter who’s in leadership in the House, this bill will see a floor vote.”
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program, established by Congress in 2005 and administered by FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security, provides funding to nonprofit organizations, including houses of worship, to bolster protection against potential attacks. Congress began significantly increasing its appropriations in 2018, in bipartisan fashion, following a wave of synagogue attacks nationwide.
The program currently stands at $270 million. Major Jewish groups have been pushing to raise it to $500 million amid rising antisemitic threats. Earlier this year, the Trump administration briefly froze the program as part of broader federal agency cuts, and some organizations have been hesitant to apply because of requirements that grantees affirm cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Schlossberg said there are at least 10 prominent institutions in New York’s 12th District that would benefit from this increase, including the Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where his grandfather, Alfred Schlossberg, was president. The measure is a “big deal for NY12 because it’s a critical funding stream that these institutions really need and rely on to strengthen their security,” he said. “Here is something the federal government can do immediately for this district, and something that I will put my energy behind.”
Raised Catholic by his mother, Caroline Kennedy, the 32-year-old Schlossberg said he also identifies as Jewish and “occasionally” goes for services at Temple Shaaray Tefila with his aunt on his father’s side. He also attends Church services on Sundays.
Schlossberg is one of several candidates vying for the seat. Other candidates include Micah Lasher, Liam Elkind, and Cameron Kasky, who are Jewish; Assemblymember Alex Bores, whose wife, Darya Moldavskaya, is Jewish; and Councilmember Erik Bottcher. Jews account for about 30% of the vote in the Democratic primary.
In the last Democratic primary for New York City mayor, Schlossberg endorsed Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who is critical of Israel. In an interview with The New York Times after Mamdani’s victory in the general election, Schlossberg said it served as an encouraging sign for his own campaign. Mamdani has pledged to increase funding for hate crime prevention and to provide protection to Jewish institutions.
Addressing that Nazi salute, the first controversy of his campaign
Schlossberg, who announced his candidacy last week, has come under fire for performing a Nazi salute in a since-deleted Instagram video, hours after Elon Musk, the powerful billionaire, appeared to do a Sieg Heil salute at a celebration rally following President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. The Anti-Defamation League excused Musk’s move as an “awkward gesture,” but other Jewish organizations called it a dog whistle. Musk, the Tesla CEO whose relationship with Trump has since soured, has a history of endorsing antisemitic conspiracies online and allowing antisemitism on his platform, X.
In Tuesday’s phone interview, Schlossberg said that the video published by the Washington Free Beacon takes his motion out of context. “What I was trying to do is be like, ‘Okay, well, he just did it and claimed that that wasn’t it. And so that’s the world we’re living in now. How ridiculous is that?’” Schlossberg explained, saying his act was an attempt to draw attention to Musk. The Washington Free Beacon said that he was referencing Musk’s motion as well.
Schlossberg said that the hateful rhetoric and antisemitic attacks “have, in large part, been driven by the hard-right silo in American politics, especially Elon Musk.”
